Reproductive Rights NOW

Join MCNOW for a panel discussion and Q&A on reproductive rights and freedom. Attendees will leave the event with ideas for tangible ways to support access to full reproductive care.

Panelists:Toni Van PeltPresident, National Organization for WomenSpurred to action by attacks on reproductive rights in her home state of Florida, Toni has served in leadership positions at all levels of NOW since 1989, culminating with her election to NOW's highest position in June 2017. Toni is fiercely devoted to grassroots activists working at the local level, and is a staunch supporter of access to the full range of reproductive care.

Chelsea YarboroughPrograms Manager, NARAL Pro-Choice MarylandChelsea coordinates NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland's outreach, issue-based campaigns, state wide organizing, and communications. She has worked with organizations, such as Planned Parenthood of Greensboro, BYP 100, and the Feminist Majority Foundation, where she organized with students in 12 states across the South, and 6 HBCU's in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, to institutionalize a sustained feminist presence on campus.

Sara LoveFormer General Counsel and Legal Director of NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Policy Director of the ACLU of MarylandSara has spent her career working to make the world a better place, focusing mainly on reproductive rights and civil liberties. She worked on a nationwide case against anti-choice extremists who used force, threats, and violence to shut down women’s health care clinics. From there, she became general counsel to nine clinics across the country, and worked with federal, state, and local law enforcement to train them on the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE). At to NARAL Pro-Choice America, she fought against state and federal bills seeking to take away women's right to choose, and at the ACLU of Maryland, she fought against bills that would roll back Maryland women's reproductive freedoms.

The National Organization for Women and Montgomery County NOW affirm that reproductive rights are issues of life and death for women, not mere matters of choice. NOW fully supports access to safe and legal abortion, to effective birth control and emergency contraception, and to reproductive health services and education for all women. We oppose attempts to restrict these rights through legislation, regulation, or Constitutional amendment.

Reproductive rights and justice is one of NOW's and MCNOW's six core issues. Our other core issues are: constitutional equality, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, economic justice, and ending violence against women. We will be holding a panel discussion and Q&A on each of these core issues.